


Filling in the blanks

by hollstein_af



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: A little angsty but with a happy ending, F/F, POV Third Person, but its not quite what it seems, carmilla is an ass, secretly hate each other Au, there will be no love triangles or cheating or any of that because thats really not my thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 01:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5315465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollstein_af/pseuds/hollstein_af
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mattie and Perry just got engaged, what they didn't plan on was two of their bridesmaids hating each other, its a good thing they don't know about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I literally hadn't written anything willingly for about 7 years but now that I've finished high school, suddenly my brain derides that its time to start again, it couldn't have decided to do this a month ago when i had 3 English assignments due?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mattie and Perry introduce Laura and Carmilla

Finding out that her older sister was engaged was the second most surprising thing that had ever happened to Carmilla karnstein. though When she thought about Matties relationship with her longterm girlfriend, maybe she shouldn't have been so shocked. after a lifetime of hearing Mattie claim that she could never be tied down however, the phone call was still kind of unexpected.

People usually knew better than to call her before 4 pm when she wasn't working so when she was woken by her ring tone blaring from beside her bed she knew it was either A) an emergency, or B) her sister.

"im so sorry sis, i hope i didn't wake you " Mattie said, her voice was dripping sarcasm.

"you can't prove that i was asleep". Carmilla mumbled

"its 11:30 am on a Sunday. You were asleep".

"Yeah but can you prove it?". Carmillas yawn gave her away.

"I actually called for a reason kitty cat , we can discuss your poor sleeping habits later".

Carmilla didn't say anything so Mattie continued "Lola and I are engaged, we're having an engagement party next Saturday and i want you to be there".

There was a stunned silence on Carmillas end of the phone, before "wait, miss never-gonna-be-tied-down got engaged?".

"Oh come on! You knew I was serious about her. Besides, it turns out being tied down can be a lot of fun, especially if you use-".

" _Gross_ , I don't need to hear about your sex life" Carmilla cut in.

"So You'll be there for the party?".

"Of course, I'll just stay with you for the weekend ".

"that's fine but you can't stay in the nice guest room. Lola's friend is staying with us that weekend too".

Carmilla stretched and slipped out of bed, keeping the phone pressed to her ear with her shoulder as she moved into the kitchen.

"Lafontaine's there?" she asked.

"No, they're giving a talk about the potential existence of sentient Fungi, they'll be late. Its another friend, girl named Laura".

* * *

 

While Perry was focused on picking raisins out of her salad, Laura sneaked an extra two sachets of sugar into her coffee. She lifted cup to her lips with a small, self satisfied smile.

"I'm never going to complain about a free lunch, but what's the occasion?", asked Laura from over the rim of her mug.

Perry looked up from her salad, then with slightly self conscious smile she slid her left hand over that table towards Laura, a platinum ring with a large emerald sparkled on her third finger .

"You got engaged!? Perry that's amazing! Congratulations!" Laura jumped up from her seat and pulled Perry into tight hug.

Perry waited until were both seated again before she speaking

"I was wondering if you would consider being a bridesmaid".

Laura looked a little surprised by that "you want _me_ in your wedding?".

"You're one of the closest friends i have and it would mean a lot to me and Mattie".

"I would love to! of course. Who else have you got?".

"theres four bridesmaids; you, Elsie, Betty and Mattie's sister. Lafontain's going to be my best person" she thought for a second, "and i think that's everybody so far".

Laura frowned "i didn't know Mattie had a sister".

"Mm" Perry hummed distractedly, admiring her ring,"Carmilla".

* * *

A little under a week later and Carmilla was boarding a plane to get to Mattie's house in Stryia. She had left her company in the hands of JP, her second in command and switched off her work phone, it wasn't every day that your older sister gets engaged and she was determined not to be bothered.

when Mattie and Perry picked her up from the airport, she flew straight into Mattie's arms and spun around a little, then got a slightly awkward hug from Perry.

"Go get your bags you little monster" Mattie said teasingly "we have to get home before Laura gets there or she'll be locked out".

Carmilla just nodded towards the leather bag that was hanging over her shoulder "i only brought carry on".

"I hope you didn't eat too much on the plane because I made brownies for dessert and you seemed to really like them last time" Perry piped up.

To say that she had _liked_ them was the understatement of the century.  

"Wipe that smirk off your face kitty, they're regular brownies. I didn't want a repeat of my birthday". Mattie added.

Perry nodded in agreement "that was fairly...unfortunate".

Carmilla tried to scowl but couldn't help smiling a little, she had really missed these idiots.

~  
Perry was making what seemed like a thousand tiny sandwiches when the doorbell rang and she hurried off to answer it.  
"That'll be Laura!".

Carmilla turned towards her sister.  
"I've been here a whole 25 minutes and you haven't even offered me a drink" .

"you can Help yourself, Lola and I have to go and meet with the catering company in a minute, we're just waiting on- ah here she is!".

Perry had re-entered the kitchen followed by a tiny women with caramel coloured hair. Carmilla met the woman's eyes from across the room, the intensity of her gaze appeared to make the woman nervous.

"Carmilla, this is Laura" Mattie said gesturing to the small woman "Laura, this is my baby sister Carmilla" .

For a second Carmilla didn't say anything, just maintained eye contact, which Laura struggled to return, then she sauntered over her, extending a hand. Laura shook it, looking relieved.

"Pleasure to meet you cupcake" Carmilla said.

Laura held onto her hand for a minimum amount of time before dropping it like it had burned her ,"uh yeah, you too".

Perry was already throwing things into her ridiculously large purse, fretting over how close they were to running late. "Will you two be alright here on your own until we get back from the caterers?" .

"The meeting won't take long and its not like they're going to throw a raging party while we're gone". Mattie said, rubbing her fiancées shoulders soothingly.

"I know! I just don't want to be a bad hostess, its not good manners to leave your guests".

"oh we'll be fine" Carmilla practically purred "its a perfect opportunity to get to know one another ".

Mattie laughed "give the poor girl a chance to breathe before you start flirting with her Carm".

She gave a small wave before she and Perry hurried off, hand in hand, leaving Laura alone in the kitchen with Carmilla. Exactly what she had been afraid of. 

Laura looked over at her cautiously; any pretence of flirtation was gone and her relaxed posture had turned stiff. They stood in silence before Laura took a deep breath and quietly said "thank you. I wasn't sure if you-".

Carmilla looked at her venomously " **don't**. I didn't do it for you. This is my sisters engagement and I'm not about to ruin that because of _you_. I just have to get through this weekend pretending that I don't know you and then I go back to forgetting that you even exist".

Carmilla gave her one last look that almost resembled disgust before turning and leaving the room.

Laura flinched a little at how cold Carmilla sounded but nodded to herself. She shouldn't have expected anything else.  
She knew that of all the people on the planet, she was the one Carmilla hated the most.

She also knew that Carmilla had good reason for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> starting from the next chapter, there will be flashbacks to show how Carmilla and L aura came to know each other and why they are the way they are.  
> im still finding my writing feet so im really sorry for any mistakes or if this is just crap.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mattie and perry make soup, dinnertime chitchat happens and theres a flashback to how Laura and Carmilla met

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The flashbacks will be written in italics just so nobody gets confused

The way they worked together so effortlessly in the kitchen was one of Perrys favourite things about her relationship with Mattie. That night they were cooking Harira, a dish that Mattie had learned to make while she was living in Morocco. Although it was one of her favourite meals for them to cook together, Perry found herself getting distracted from their normal cooking routine by worries about her guests.  

as she chopped parsley she glanced into the dining room to check on Laura and Carmilla, she couldn't explain why but there was a tension between those two that made her nervous.

“Darling, i can hear you thinking from all the way over there, what's going on in that gorgeous head of yours?"Mattie asked. She strode over to where Perry was working and put her hands down on the bench either side of Perrys hips.

Perry sighed "its nothing really, its just-”, she felt silly voicing what was on her mind, “do you think that-, I'm worried that Carmilla might- _you know_ …with Laura and you know how she is with girls, she makes them feel special then never speaks to them again…”

“And you don’t want Laura getting hurt” Mattie finished for her.

Perry nodded “am i crazy? I just feel like there’s something going on there”.

“You’re not crazy, Carmilla was definitely flirting earlier, but frankly I'd be more concerned if she wasn't.  She's a flirt, its just who she is but if Carmilla slept with every girl she flirted with she’d never have time to do anything else, I don’t think you need to worry”.

“You’re right. I'm being ridiculous. i have much more important things to worry about, like not burning the soup ”.

Mattie leaned forward to kiss her briefly “mm that's my girl”.

~  
“So Carmilla, hows work going?” Perry asked from across the dinner table, as she poured second helpings into everyone's bowls.

“Its fine. It pays the bills” Carmilla replied shortly.

“Carm here is the head of Morgan publications” Mattie explained for Laura's benefit “have you heard of it, Laura?”.

“Maybe, i mean, i think I've probably heard of it in passing” Laura shrugged, focusing mostly on not meeting Carmillas eyes without anyone getting suspicious.

“Oh you would have” said Perry, “they printed all of the required textbooks for silas”.

Laura looked like she was close to an anxiety attack.

Carmilla froze, though thankfully neither Perry nor Mattie seemed to notice.

“Wait, silas? I thought you went to Sheridan community college?” Carmilla let slip, internally kicking herself.

Laura started to say something but Perry beat her to it “oh no, she went to silas, that’s where we met actually.”

Carmilla didn't know why this tiny piece of information had sent her reeling, she decided she needed to stop letting herself believe that she had ever truly known Laura.

Carmilla was grateful when Perry changed the subject to her embarrassing teenage years, she let herself zone out during Perrys story about her high school wicca phase.

“…..and then after 3 hours of trying, I had to accept that there was no way i could conjure up a goat and I had to give him back his money” Perry finished.  
Laura was almost breathless laughing so Carmilla figured it must have been a good story.

“You should have seen this one in high school” said Mattie, tipping her head towards Carmilla “she thought she was SO cool, never went anywhere without her leather vest and sunglasses. She even had pink streaks in her hair”.

Laura met Carmillas eyes over the table and for the first time that weekend, she could see something soft there, an almost wistful expression which last only a second before turning back into blank disinterest.

**Six years ago:**

_Of all the things 17 year old Carmilla wanted to have been doing on a Friday night, being at yet another one of her mother’s work functions was pretty much the bottom of her list._  
_She had lost interest in the party five minutes after arriving and now an hour later, she was ready to drop dead with boredom._

_“Carmilla darling, would you at least try to pretend you’re having fun”._

_Carmilla gave her mother a sarcastic smile, though it didn't lack affection._

_The lighting in the room was low and there was classical music playing from a band in the corner of the room. Carmilla had her eye on the waiters carrying trays with bottles of champagne on them, she was about to slip off and get hold of a bottle when she felt her mother nudge her side. Wonderful, she thought, time to be introduced to yet another person whose name she would forget instantly._

_“Carmilla, this is James Hollis, he works the machinery for the printing press”. Lilita explained but Carmilla wasn't listening. For the first time that evening, somebody had managed to capture her attention._

_She shook james hand but her eyes stayed trained on the girl standing next to him._  
_“Please, call me Jim” he said cheerfully, he must have noticed her distraction because he followed her gaze to the girl“oh and this my daughter, Laura”._

_And just like that Carmilla suddenly wasn't so unhappy to be there after all. Laura was gorgeous, if slightly overdressed, wearing a white dress that hung from her shoulders, making her look a bit like some kind of virgin sacrifice. She looked a little nervous but her eyes sparkled with curiosity._

_“Nice to meet you” Laura said, blushing faintly._

_Carmilla nodded and shook Laura's hand too “oh it definitely is” she agreed._

_Laura's_ _hand was small and warm and fit into hers perfectly, Carmilla held it for a second longer than was strictly necessary._

_Neither of them noticed that their parents had finished talking, they were both too interested in each other to pay attention to what was happening around them. Carmilla was about to say something when  Jim interrupted the moment._

_“oh Laura, I want you to meet Bernie!” Jim said “it was nice to meet you Carmilla”, he nodded at her, before ushering Laura away. Carmilla didn't miss the way Laura stopped to look back at her over her shoulder as she disappeared into the crowd._  
_~_  
_Laura scanned the room while her father chatted animately to Jenny from accounting. She was looking the girl she’d met earlier but so far couldn't find a trace of her. She was about to give up when, suddenly out of the corner of her eye, Laura saw the glint of a bottle and a head of dark hair slipping out of the room into the hallway. She considered her options for a second, was it weird to follow a girl you just met into an empty hallway? in the end her curiosity won out, she glanced around quickly to make sure her dad was still occupied before following after Carmilla._

_when she emerged into the dark hallway Carmilla was nowhere to be seen. Laura thought about turning back and returning to the party, this was a probably a stupid idea anyway, but then she noticed a light coming from underneath the door of a supply closet. she stepped towards it before she could talk herself out of it._

_Carmilla was sitting on the floor with her legs spread out in front of her like a five year old, grasping a bottle of champagne. she looked up in surprise to see Laura standing there._

_“well, well, well” she said with a smirk._

_"Carmilla, right?"._

_"the one and only, sweetheart", Carmilla agreed._

_“not enjoying the party?” asked Laura, trying to sound cool and calm ._

_“believe it or not, a room full of brutes subtly bragging about how rich they are isn't really my idea of a good time, so i brought the party here”._

_“If you hate it so much then why’d you come?”_

_Carmilla motioned for her to come inside and she shut the door behind her, sitting down next to her gingerly. she_ _was rather proud of herself for not freaking out about the fact that she was alone with the hottest girl she’d ever met._

_“my mother loves to remind me that all this-” she gestures around the supply closet sarcastically “-will be mine someday”._

_Laura nodded towards the bottle of champagne “maybe your mother should keep a closer eye on you”._

_Carmilla laughed “ you going to tell her that?”._

_“not if you share” she said innocently, Carmilla raised an eyebrow looking slightly impressed. she passed the bottle over and Laura took a gulp, trying not to make it obvious that this was the first time she’d done this._

_Carmilla shifted closer to her, her gaze was focused on Laura intensely. Laura swallowed, hoping that her heart wasn’t beating loud enough for Carmilla to hear it._

_“so, cupcake, you ever drink champagne in a closet before ?”_

_Laura shook her head._

_“well then, I'm honoured to be your first”. She winked._

_Laura blushed furiously “do you flirt with every girl meet?”._

_“only the pretty ones”, she reached for Laura s ponytail and ran it slowly through her hand “there’s something about you”._

_Laura turned her head a fraction of an inch, she took a sharp intake of breath when their eyes met and she couldn't help the way her gaze flitted down to the other girls lips. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought she should probably not be thinking about kissing a girl she’d known for less than an hour (no matter how pretty said girl was) but all that went out the window when Carmilla started to lean in._

_Carmilla scanned her face, looking for an evidence that Laura might not want this. she leaned in as slowly as possible to give her a chance to pull back._  
_when Laura did nothing, Carmilla leaned the rest of the way in and pressed their lips together. It wasn't her first kiss but it was certainly the only one that had ever felt this good. She hadn't expected Lauras lips to be that soft. She hadn't expected the sudden rush of butterflies in her stomach either. It was a short kiss, Carmilla's lips barely touched Laura's before she pulled back, but it still set her heart racing._

_Laura's eyes were still closed when they broke apart, she paused a moment before surging forward to reconnect their lips. She had one hand behind Carmillas neck and the other one wound through her dark, pink streaked hair. Laura had never felt as in sync with anybody as she did with Carmilla in that moment, like their lips were made to move together. She couldn't help letting out a soft moan when Carmilla lightly bit her bottom lip. this time neither of them pulled back until it became too difficult to breathe ._

_The kiss left Laura slightly breathless, “wow”._

**present:**

“so Carmilla really had pink streaks in her hair?” asked Laura. she was out on the balcony with Mattie, warming her hands on a mug of hot chocolate.

“oh yes! it was adorable” Mattie laughed indulgently.

“i bet she was trouble though”.

Mattie hummed thoughtfully “actually, in high school? not so much. it was after that that she became a real little monster”.

Laura knew that she shouldn't be doing this, knew that checking up on Carmilla via Mattie was probably crossing all kinds of boundaries but she had know.

she took a sip of hot chocolate, wondering how to go about getting the information she wanted.

“yeah, I can imagine her collage years were really interesting”. she only hoped it wasn't too obvious that she was digging for information, but subtlety had never been her strong suit so she couldn't be sure. Mattie, however didn't seem to have noticed.

“she didn't go to collage, she went straight on to work with mother but she never let that stop her from living the collage experience. I swear, for a while there, she had a different woman in her bed every night of the week”.

Laura felt an unexplainable sinking feeling. She knew she wasn't allowed to feel jealous about something Carmilla did years ago, hell she wasn't even allowed to feel jealous about anything Carmilla did now.

“speak of the devil” said Mattie, breaking Laura out of her thoughts. she spun around to see Carmilla leaning against the door frame.

“I just came to let you know that your fiancée is looking for you ” Carmilla said smoothly.

“well i’d better go and see what she wants” Mattie made her way back inside, leaving them alone once again. fantastic, alone with a girl who just caught her snooping. 

“i’m sorry Carm, i shouldn't have talked to Mattie about that stuff. I was just surprised and-”. Laura started but faltered at the look Carmilla was giving her, she was smiling but there was no warmth in it, just a cold sneer.

“was that not what you were expecting to hear?”, Carmilla said in a dangerous tone, “did you think that you broke my heart and I cried myself to sleep for years because I never stopped loving your whiny ass? did you think I would never sleep with another woman because it was too painful to be with somebody that wasn't you? I hate to break it to you creampuff, but you need to grow up”.

Laura felt tears fill her eyes, she didn't trust herself to speak without crying. she turned her back on Carmilla, unable to face her cold expression any longer. if she had waited, she might have seen the flicker of remorse in Carmilla's eyes. 

Seeing Laura so close to tears brought up something in Carmilla that liked to pretend didn't exist. It was so much easier to hate her, if she hated her then she didn't have to feel hurt by her. If she hated her then she didn't have to miss her.

It was much easier to hate Laura, but the problem was; she didn't.

**Six years ago:**

_“Ok so I got your urgent ‘please bring coffee its an emergency’ text and I don’t think this constitutes an emergency”. Carmilla said holding out a takeaway cup for Laura to take._

_Laura was hunched over her desk, papers spread out around her and dark circles under her eyes. She took the cup from Carmilla and pulled her down by the collar of her jacket to kiss her gratefully._

_“You are a lifesaver. Thank you”, she groaned._

_Carmilla's neck flushed at the praise._

_“Whatever you need”._

_Laura leaned back in her desk chair, eyes closed and pulling lightly at the roots of her hair._

_“You wanna tell me what’s got you so wound up?”,Carmilla asked, leaning over the back of Laura's chair to press a soft kiss onto the side of her head._

_“its just that scholarship applications for Silas are due in next week and I haven’t even finished my essay-, let alone edited it and it has to be amazing because if I don’t get this scholarship then I can’t afford to go”, she takes a deep breath, “I'm just **so** tired. and craving sugar”._

_Carmilla turned Laura's chair around to face her and took both of her hands “listen to me, I've read you’re writing ok? and you are going to nail this thing. Just write the way you always do and you’ll have them eating out your hands”._

_Carmilla suddenly remembered what else she had brought with her “oh and I might have a solution to your little sugar craving” ,she handed Laura a brown paper bag. Laura let out a quiet moan when she saw the giant cookie inside._

_she looked across at carmilla adoringly “marry me”._

_Carmilla laughed “you don’t think its a bit soon for that? We’ve only been together two months”._

_“Ok, but i am so going to make this worth your while later”._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm always worried that what i write doesn't make sense so if you have any questions please feel free to ask! Im working on unjumbling my brain but its a slow process!


End file.
